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Although Board Certified Behavior Analysts can hold many roles, quite a few BCBAs begin their career by providing in-home services. For many, these roles are contract roles that consist of separate rates for travel time, billable hours, and non-billable time. In some companies, BCBAs only supervise Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs), while with others the behavior analyst may be supervising Therapeutic Support Staff (TSS), behavior technicians, or even consulting directly with teachers and parents to train those individuals in implementation of an intervention plan.   In general, having a set schedule- with the ability to modify sessions- is incredibly helpful in organizing the day. While many professionals may value the 9-5 daily schedule, working in homes often means that BCBAs- and the staff they are supervising- are working early or late hours on a regular basis. Most agencies have a schedule protocol in place, and BCBAs should be sure to log their sessions on a calendar that can be viewed by offsite support staff as well, in case of any emergencies. Considering that most RBTs require about 8 hours per month of supervision, plan to rotate and see each RBT for at least 2 hours per week. Depending on client scripted hours, sessions may need to be longer, or staggered, to see multiple RBTs working with the same client in a given week.

Updates to the EPPP The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (the EPPP) has been a tremendous source of stress for many who hope to practice in the field of psychology one day. An exam that claims to cover “everything you learned in graduate school” is an extremely intimidating-sounding exam. Research has shown that demystifying the exam as much as possible has been one of the top strategies for succeeding on the EPPP. With the many shifts that have been going on, both in the global landscape, as well as the field of psychology, your friends at AATBS, think you should be aware of some of the changes to the exam. The information covered in the exam is constantly changing. It’s hard to say for certain exactly which topics and questions will be covered on your exam, especially with the information covered in each exam changing about 20% with each iteration.

People either love or hate flashcards. Critics often say flashcards focus on memorization over understanding the material, and in some ways, they’re right. However, to fully understand and manipulate the content efficiently, you have to master key terms and foundational concepts with speed and accuracy -- this is called fluency. When you have greater fluency with the material, you’re better equipped to build on this foundational knowledge and quickly apply these concepts to new and different scenarios, making short work of those applied questions. After all, the EPPP is timed, and when you can recall concepts quickly and easily, you’re buying yourself more time to work through the question.

After countless hours of coursework, practica and internship, and pages of dissertation edits, you now have to take the EPPP. Whether it’s fear of failure, sheer exhaustion, juggling too many priorities, or imposter syndrome creeping in, the motivation just isn’t there and at the same time, you didn’t come this far to quit. Try these tips to help re-energize yourself and build momentum while studying for the EPPP.